Introduction to Contemporary Visual Art: Beyond the Counterculture
Starts Mon 16 January 2012
18.30 – 20.30
6 weeks
This 6-week course will explore notions of counterculture with reference to the visual legacy of a series of subcultures and underground youth movements which have risen to prominence in Western pop culture since the early 1960s.
As such, Beyond the Counterculture will take you on a colourful and provocative journey through the art of the pin-up, surf, Kustom Kulture, psychedelia, underground comix, tiki revival, punk graphics, Lowbrow art, Pop Surrealism, designer toys and indie crafting. In doing so, it will draw upon the work of Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth, Von Dutch, Robert Williams, Shag, Coop, Kozik, Jamie Reid and James Cauty (formerly of the KLF) amongst many others.
Throughout, the course will seek to define exactly what is meant by counterculture, and examine whether the notion of counterculture still exists in any meaningful way today. It will also look at the wider and lasting influence and legacy of underground art, its relationship to both commercial art and the fine art establishment, and at how mainstream society — courtesy of our contemporary media (especially advertising) and fashion industries, in particular — has become increasingly adept at subsuming art from the cultural margins, thereby stripping it of its power to shock and offend.
Beginner’s level - no prior knowledge necessary.
Course tutors: Ian Lowey and Suzanne Prince. Both jointly are the publishers/ editors of the left-field UK arts magazine, Nude. Prior to that, Suzanne Prince owned the Last Chance Saloon shop and gallery in Waterloo, London, which hosted the first UK shows by such leading Lowbrow artists as Frank Kozik, Coop and Vince Ray. Around the same time, Ian Lowey was busy running an outlet on Camden Market selling zines, cult comics, collectible toys and other countercultural ephemera.
Please note: This course will make use of visual imagery which some may find offensive.
Week 1Mon 16 Jan
18:30 – 20:30 / Introduction: Speed Thrills
We begin by exploring notions of what counterculture/ subculture is, and commence our exploration of countercultural art and design by looking at the Kustom Kulture movement that grew up in Southern California in the late-1950s and early-1960s. This was a distinct form of outlaw culture based around the customisation (and individualisation) of mass-produced motor vehicles, which allowed participants to escape the cookie-cutter conformity of Eisenhower-era consumerism.
In studying Kustom Kulture, we will take a look at custom cars as fantastical art objects in themselves (many of which were created as non-driveable ‘show cars’), but will concentrate mainly on the visual art which began as decoration for these souped-up machines and which eventually developed into a distinct and immediately identifiable form of visual expression.
In doing so, we will be concentrating primarily on the work of Kenneth Howard aka Von Dutch and Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth. Both were extremely colourful maverick figures whose work was feted respectively by Picasso and the writer, Tom Wolf, but who rejected the overtures of the mainstream art world in favour of staying true to their blue-collar artisan roots.
We will also at this stage introduce the figure of Robert Williams, who began his career working for the aforementioned Ed Roth and who subsequently became a leading figure of the San Francisco-based underground comix movement and later the founding father of the West Coast ‘Lowbrow’ art movement which we will examine in detail during week 4. / The Annexe
Week 2
Mon 23 Jan
18:30 – 20:30 / Sticking it to the Man: Revolutionary Art
As youth culture matured during the course of the 1960s it became ever more strident and self-assured in its belief that it could affect genuine change in wider society, with the late-1960s and early-1970s in particular witnessing an explosion of creativity both in popular music and graphics, with the rock concert poster and album cover proving suitable mediums for the dissemination of Psychedelic art.
This unit will take a look at this hallucinatory art but will also examine underground comix (Robert Crumb, Robert Williams, S Clay Wilson etc.) and the visual aesthetic of such gleefully subversive counterculture magazines as Oz, International Times, Actuel etc. and the overtly political graphics of the Black Power movement. / The Annexe
Week 3
Mon 30 Jan
18:30 – 20:30 / Revolt into Style: The Art of Punk
When Jamie Reid took a portrait of the queen and superimposed a safety pin through her bottom lip for the cover of ‘God Save the Queen’ by the Sex Pistols, he created one of the most iconic pop-cultural images of the late-20th Century. And in much the same way that the music of the Sex Pistols helped clear the way for a new generation of young musicians, Reid’s provocative cut-up anti-design ushered in a new wave of young graphic designers who used the unprecedented artistic freedom afforded them to pursue some bold adventures in visual communication.
So, as well as looking back at Reid’s early-70s, Situationist-inspired graphics for the Suburban Press, this unit will also explore the graphic art of other key UK figures such as Malcolm Garrett, Peter Saville, Neville Brody, Barney Bubbles, Linder Sterling, Gee Vaucher, Savage Pencil and Vaughen Oliver amongst others.
It will also take us back over the pond to look at the work of collage artist Winston Smith whose politically-charged cut and paste visuals for the Dead Kennedys serve to highlight the importance of the LA punk scene on the development of contemporary Lowbrow art. / The Annexe
Week 4
Mon 7 Feb
18:30 – 20:30 / Up From the Underground: The Rise of Lowbrow
Having its origins in underground comix, punk and hot rod culture, what was previously a disparate and unfocused American West Coast alternative art scene was brought together under the self-deprecating umbrella term, ‘Lowbrow’ in 1979 by the ‘fine art painter’ Robert Williams.
As well as being a term which reflects the art form’s rejection by the ‘highbrow’ fine art mainstream, ‘Lowbrow’ also reflects the movement’s heavy referencing of trash consumer culture (tattoos, pulp paperback covers, pin-ups, horror films, cartoons, advertising icons etc.). However, since its initial coinage, Williams himself and others have distanced themselves from the term, preferring less disparaging nomenclatures such as Pop Surrealism and Conceptual Realism.
In this unit we look at how Lowbrow has developed from its late-70s formalisation, into an increasingly popular international art movement, which, in spite of the fact that some practitioners have found acceptance in the art establishment, continues to flourish outside of the mainstream with its own network of galleries worldwide. We’ll also critique its relationship to Pop Art and take a look at the related fields of outsider art and tiki revival. / The Annexe
Week 5
Mon 13 Feb
18:20 / Course screening/ The Treasures of Long Gone John(Cert TBC)
DirGregg Gibbs / USA 2006 / 97 mins
Anthony Ausgang , The Clayton Brothers, Coop
This is a feature-length documentary chronicling the eccentric art and musical obsessions of US indie record ‘anti-mogul’, Long Gone John.
Since its founding in 1988, his label Sympathy For the Record Industry has put out discs from a stellar list of alt. rock artists such as Beck, The White Stripes, Billy Childish, Rocket From the Crypt, Hole, The Gun Club and The Donnas to name but a few. But John is also an obsessive collector of Lowbrow art and pop cultural ephemera, and his employment of Lowbrow artists to create covers for his label’s releases serves to illustrate the ongoing symbiotic relationship between punk/ garage rock and Lowbrow art.
The Treasures of Long Gone John showcases the work of a number of Lowbrow/ Pop Surrealist artists such as Todd Schorr, Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, Camille Rose Garcia and Robert Williams, and is soundtracked by music released by the label. It has, as far as we know, been screened only once before in the UK. / Cinema
Week 6
Mon 20 Feb
18:30 – 20:30 / New Forms: Something Old & Something New
Here we examine how, recently, increasing numbers of Lowbrow artists have looked to the Far East and found new inspiration in the form of frequently bizarre ‘designer vinyl’ toys. We’ll also look at the emergence of the indie crafting movement, which also feeds in to the designer toy market with the production of handmade plush and knitted dolls etc.
Drawing on the DIY ethos that was a key component of punk, this new wave of crafting has its roots in the American riot grrrl movement of the early-90s, which was centred around the Pacific North West towns and cities of Seattle, Portland and Olympia, and has subsequently grown internationally into a self-empowering anti-corporate movement for out times. / The Annexe
References
Specific reference sheets will be provided on a weekly basis. Some free copies of Nude magazine will also be made available to course participants. In the meantime, there are numerous books and films available focusing on subject areas covered on this course. Below are just a few, which are broken down into those that are particularly relevant to individual weekly units.
Week 1
Kustom Kulture: Von Dutch, Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth, Robert Williams & Others
(LagunaArt Museum/ Last Gasp 1993)
Kustom Graphics: Hot Rods, Burlesque and Rock ’n’ Roll (Korero Books 2008)
Week 2
200 Trips from the Counterculture: Graphics and Stories from the Underground Press Syndicate (Thames & Hudson 2006)
Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution (Fantagraphics 2008)
Week 3
Up They Rise: Incomplete Works of Jamie Reid (Faber & Faber 1987)
Now out of print but available in some central libraries.
Communicate: Independent Graphic Design since the Sixties (Laurence King 2004) Contains an excellent chapter on the influence of punk on British graphic design.
Week 4
Pop Surrealism: The Rise of Underground Art (Last Gasp 2005)
Weirdo Deluxe: The Wild World of Pop Surrealism & Lowbrow Art (Chronicle 2005)
Week 5
New Brow: Contemporary Underground Art (Humble Pictures 2009)
Week 6
I Am Plastic: The Designer Toy Explosion (Abrams 2006)
Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft and Design
(Princeton Architectural Press 2008)
Associated Events
Curator’s Tour: Lost is Found
Sat 4 Feb 2012,
14:00 – 15:00, FREE
Our Creative Stars curatorial panel will lead a guided tour of their new exhibition Lost Is Found (Gallery 1, until Sun 19 Feb 2012). This event is suitable for all ages and backgrounds as no prior knowledge is required. It will appeal particularly to those who would value hearing from first-time curators about the methods employed in selecting artists and how the exhibition’s themes emerged during the production and selection process.
This tour will be BSL Interpreted for the hard of hearing.
Artist’s Tour/ Samantha Donnelly: Contour States
Sat 28 Jan 2012,
14:00 – 15:00, FREE
Join us for a tour of our new exhibition Samantha Donnelly: Contour States (Galleries 2 & 3, until Sun 25 March 2012). Samantha Donnelly will lead this guided tour, presenting an opportunity to hear from the artist about her pick ’n mix use of beauty products, cosmetics, ephemera and sculptural form to submit a subversive riposte to media constructs of identity. Underpinned by references to art history and popular culture, Donnelly’s distinctive practice is concerned with breaking down subjects and reconfiguring them as new objects in an altered state.
Between Commissions by Hayley Newman & Patricia Baga
Fri 30 Mar, 19:00 – 21:00, FREE
The first Between presents work by Hayley Newman and Patricia Baga. Newman’s Bones is a performance that gives voice and feeling to the detritus generated during the de-install of the previous gallery show. Newman is one of Britain’s leading performance artists and is committed to working creatively around the current economic, social, and ecological crises.
Patricia Baga will present Pedestrian Mysticism a new improvisatory work that uses video projection as a set, a prop and a character. The artist takes on the roles of director, screenwriter, editor, actor and location scout in her ‘performative screenings’. Based in New York, Baga has exhibited and performed internationally including exhibitions and performances at LAXART, Los Angeles, Vilma Gold, London, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain and at PS1 New York.
Between is curated by Louise Adkins, associate curated by The International3 in partnership with MIRIAD.